Revealed: Motel workers pool $50 ‘stay vouchers’ to house a family

A group of motel workers have pooled their $50 government “stay vouchers” in a desperate bid to save a family from homelessness as the cost of living crisis forced people to rely on motels for housing.

A group of motel workers have pooled their $50 government “stay vouchers” in a desperate bid to save a family from homelessness as the cost of living crisis forced people to rely on motels for housing.

Cessnock mum Charmaine Brookes and her four children were living at a local motel and paying $875 a week in rent because they were unable to find any affordable rentals in the Hunter Region.

But the family were this week forced to leave after the motel was undergoing renovations and was unable to house them.

Ms Brooke said when the motel workers heard of her plight they tried to pool together their government stay vouchers to find her some support.

The family’s situation is symbolic of a wider crisis — where working professionals and families are being forced to rely on the generosity of strangers and are begging for basics on fundraising platforms because the rising cost of living has exacerbated the already brutal housing shortage.

With nowhere else to go, a Cessnock family is relying on local generosity to allow them to temporarily stay a motel.

Ms Brookes and her family are now living in temporary housing which runs out in five days —- their deadline to find somewhere else to live in a town that is desperately short on options.

Ms Brookes is also hesitant to move to other parts of the state because one of her children has autism and has only recently settled into his schooling.

“I am trying not to uproot the kids. He has only just settled in,” she said.

Although she is on the priority list at Housing NSW, she is yet to find a home.

“I don’t know where we will go. I only have five days left of temporary housing. So many of the workers went in to bat for me.

The family’s situation comes as the once-in-a-generation cost of living crisis is forcing many Australians to crowdsource money for basics like rent and food.

Neighbourhood Facebook pages have been brimming with pleas from desperate families, workers and retirees looking for a home.

Crowdsourcing platform GoFundMe’s Australian arm has seen a 183 per cent increase year-on-year in fundraisers that mention rental relief, rent payments, relocations costs, housing crisis or rental crisis — with a third of these going live in the past 90 days.

Fundraisers mentioning cost of living, rising living costs, cost of food and interest rates went up by 151 per cent year-on-year.

Regional Director Nicola Britton said the figures “held a mirror” to the wider issue in society.

Rachel McDonell and Clinton Harris are on the verge of being homeless and fear they will have to go live in a tent. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Charmaine Brookes and her 4 kids are living in a motel in Cessnock because they can’t find a rental anywhere. Picture: David Swift

“When it comes to fundraising it’s not easy to put your hand up and ask for help publicly. The fact that we are seeing so many people turning crowdsourcing is a really clear indication that this is a deeper societal and systemic issues,” she said.

“Often when we see a trend and we look under the hood, it indicates some real failures in the system. We started to notice it in November 2020 and its continued since then.”

Ms Britton said the Northern NSW, Tasmania and Victoria were witnessing a rise in fundraisers for people struggling to pay the bills.

“We are also seeing people refer to the rising cost of living. We are seeing Australians face this impossible decision whether they should prioritise weekly rent, medication, vet fees or putting food on the table,” he said.

“One bill is tipping people into crisis and that hasn’t been the situation in the past when it comes to daily essentials and expected medical costs — people just can’t afford that at the moment.”

The concerning trend has urged the organisation to work on its charity partnerships to connect people with help.

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LISTEN to Journalist Angira Bharadwaj talk to families who have been forced to fundraised for basics like rent:

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Youth charity Stepping Stone House chief executive Jason Juretic said the astronomical inflation rate would drive more homelessness and the organisation had seen a tripling of inquiries.

“We were seeing a tripling of inquiries to our services, 90 people a month instead of 30. Others in the sector were experiencing double the inquiries,” Mr Juretic said.

“And coming off the back of that we now have inflation running at 6.1 per cent. We know that economic strains can create enormous strains and tensions in families, and we’re worried about the flow on effect after a couple of tough years under Covid.

“What we’d like to see is the federal government providing discretionary payments for those doing it really hard.”

To help these families facing homelessness, you can donate to their GoFundMe:

Charmaine’s fundraiser is here.

Rachel’s fundraiser is here.

Originally published as Revealed: Motel workers pool $50 ‘stay vouchers’ to house a family